John s



J. S. HURLBY &-E. H. TAYLOR.

(No Model.)

Patented July 1,' 1890.

THILL TUG.

Hlllilllllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

JOHN S. HURLEY AND EUGENE I-l. TAYLOR, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS,

ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO MICHAEL HURLEY, OF SAME PLACE.

THlLL-LUG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,467, dated July 1, 1890. Application filed April 12, 1890. Serial No. 3&7,669. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that we, JOHN S. HURLEY and EUGENE H. TAYLOR, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of ll/Iassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Thill-Lugs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to thill-lugs for harness in which the lug is made in two parts or sections, one being l1ook-shaped and comprising the portion of the lug which supports the thill, while the other constitutes one side of the upper portion of the lug, and is hinged so that it can be swung to open and close the side of the lug, and thus permit the insertion and removal of the thill through one side of thelug, the thill being moved sidewise to insert and remove it.

The object of the invention is to provide a strong and durable lug of this class in which the swinging end of the hinged section shall be securely held when in place and shall at the same time be readily detachable from the body of the lug to permit the insertion and removal of the thill.

To this end the invention consists in the lmprovements, which we will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a side view of a thill-lug embodying our improvements. Fig. 2 represents an edge View of the same. Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents the hookshaped body or main section of the thill-lug, the same being made of a suitable metal and comprising one side and the bottom portion of the lug, its lower portion being formed to receive and support the thill.

Z) represents the hinged section, which is connected at its upper end by a hinge pintle or pivot c to the section a, the said sections having hinge-ears d and d formed on their upper ends, through which the pin passes, the ears of one section alternating with those of the othersection. The hinged section b is formed to extend across the open side of the section a and to bear at its swinging end on the corresponding end of said section a, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3,..the arrangement being such that the section b swings outwardly, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, to open the lug for the insertion of the thill, and inwardly to close the lug after the thill is in place.

6 represents a locking-lever, which is connected by a pivot-pin e to ears t' i on the hinged section b, said ears being at or near the swinging end of said section. The lever projects downwardly beyond the end of the section b, and is provided with a tongue 6'', which projects inwardly and is adapted to enter a slot g, formed for its reception in the section a near the end of the latter, on which the hinged section bears.

h represents a spring, which is attached at one end to the section b, and is arranged so that its free end presses outwardly on the upper end of the lever 2 above the pivot e,

and therefore presses the lower end of said lever with the tongue 6 inwardly.

It will be seen that when the section b is swung outwardly to open the lug the lockinglever e is pressed inwardly at its lower end, and that when the section b is swung back to place the tongue 6" of the locking-lever comes in contact with the outer side of the section a, and is forced outwardly against the pressure of the spring it until it coincides with the slot g, whereupon the tongue springs into the said slot and is held there by the spring. The tongue 6 and slot g are somewhat in clined, as shown in Fig. 3, their arrangement being such that the tongue cannot be forced out of the slot by outward pressure exerted on the swinging section b, and can only be disengaged by the outward swinging of the lower end of the lever 8; hence there is no liability of accidental displacement of the section b by pressure of the thill against it.

The lower end of the locking-lever stands out somewhat from the adjoining side of the lug, so that it can be readily taken hold of and swung outwardly to unlock the section b.

mrepresents a buckle composed of a frame and a tongue, both secured by the pin 0, the

said buckle being adapted to engage the strap which supports the lug. The free end of said strap may be confined between flanges 2 2 on the section a by a cross-bar 4, attached to said flanges.

The lower end of the section b is formed with two downwardly-projecting ears I) b, which, when said section is closed, fit two recesses formed to receive them in the section a. Said ears strengthen the connection of the meeting ends of the sections a b.

We do not limit ourselves to the precise details of the construction here shown, and the same may be modified within the limits of mechanical skill and judgment without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim.

1. In a thill-lug, the combination of a main or body section formed to support a thill or shaft and having an opening for the lateral entrance and egress of the thill and an upwardly-inclined slot 9 near the lower end of said opening, a swinging section hinged at its upper end to the body-section at the upper end of said opening-and adapted to swing outwardly to open the lug, and a yielding locking device on the swinging end of the swinging section provided with an upwardlyinclined tongue 6, formed to enter the slot g, the inclination of said slot and tongue being such that the tongue cannot be forced out of the slot by pressure exerted on the swinging section, as set forth.

2. The combination of the main section provided with a side opening and with the inclined slot 9 below said opening, the hinged section adapted to swing outwardly from the main section, the locking-lever pivoted to the hinged section at or near its swinging end,

and provided with an inclined tongue 6, 

